Elevator building revival, Old bones or what to talk about with new building owners who have dormant buildings

We have a client who has owned a building for some time, portions of the building have been dormant for long before they purchased it. We have done work in different parts of the building over the years and they are finally getting to the most neglected portions of the building.  We recently completed the engineering on a group of elevators that will be modernized after years of preparation and information gathering.  This is meant for building owners who know a lot about buildings and rehabilitations but may not know anything about elevators.

The most important thing in this blog is going to be just because you know a lot about the trades, rehabilitation, flipping, etc doesn’t necessarily mean you know anything about elevators. 

Do your diligence – Before buying a building hire someone to walk the building and write a report for you indicating; elevator condition, potential repairs, potential costs, etc.  This will cost you a pretty penny but it may be worth its weight in gold as elevator work is very expensive and most people have no idea anything about our trade.

Find an honest contractor who will be straight with you – This is so very important.  We get pushed to tell people what they want to hear.  Find someone who is competent and will be brutally honest with you.  It will be the difference between hearing what you want to and understanding when this cylinder or underground pipe is found to be compromised in the ground and we give you a quote for $5,000 to $50,000 extra as well as project delays. 

[Hydraulic line going into the ground]

 

[Elevator pit that has been filled with water for years]

We cannot spend your money for you but we can guide you so you know potential costs before you move forward.

Understand the elevator condition and what needs to be completed – Work with a contractor or pay a consultant to take the time to give you enough information so you understand what is being completed.

            What does replace the control system mean?

            What does ADA compliant mean?

            Why are there only 12 items on your quote but you are charging me $75,000.00?

 

[Will this work?]

Someone should spend time with you to explain where your money is going.  They should also tell you what other options are and what you are retaining. The day will come when you begin to have issues with the retained equipment and you will be asking questions, let’s answer the questions before this day comes.

Non elevator work – Older buildings typically have older infrastructure and may require some NFPA, NEC or IBC code items that are not within the elevator contractors purview.  Your elevator contractor or consultant may not know all the answers but they should know enough so you can ask questions to the AHJ or the other trades you will need to engage.

[What needs to be done to make this code compliant?]

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  Each month you will get some great info on Colley!  It is short and quick to run through, you’ll like it!

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107 or on our web page at www.colleyelevator.com

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

Elevator World – Best elevator contractor of the year 2020 – North[Chicago]

Winning the 2019 Ellie was great honor as we were recognized by our customers, suppliers and professional colleagues.  Winning the award in 2020 was twice as nice and a sign that we as a company are doing great things!  We have great employees, great customers and great supplier partners that made this happen!  As the year winds down we would like to thank everyone that voted during the process! 

[December 2020 Elevator World cover]

[3rd picture down is one of our project teams taking a break to hoist the Ellie]

[Top left is Colley's Craig Zomchek hoisting the Ellie on a car top]

Colley Elevator has been around for 113 years this coming January and it is the people that work at Colley that has made it great!  Thank you everyone!

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  Each month you will get some great info on Colley!  It is short and quick to run through, you’ll like it!

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107 or on our web page at www.colleyelevator.com

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

It’s the pits! Elevator hoistway pit maintenance/refurbishment/water damage

 This last week was an elevator pit week for us at Colley Elevator.  Through acquisition of new customers we find that there are elevator pits that are neglected over time or have been exposed to water damage over the years and their pit equipment; piping, victaulics, rails, buffers, etc require attention.

 Elevator pit – Lake Forest, IL

 This elevator is a sleepy elevator that has had years of water exposure.  We took over the elevator maintenance from an OEM and made a recommendation to clean the pit, replace piping & fittings, change the shut off and packing. 

 [Before]

 [After]

Elevator pit – Chicago, IL

This elevator is not one of our accounts but we share an owner who asked us to take a look at the property.  Again, years of water damage has occurred to this elevator equipment.  The pit floor was too wet to be able to get a coat of paint to stick.

[Before]

[After]

Elevator pit – Elgin, IL

This elevator is new to our portfolio and had a lot of work that needed to be completed.  We fabricated new pit channels, buffers[car and counterweight] and scrapped the pit to remove the deteriorated metal that was stuck to the ground.  Elevator will not be able to pass inspection and is safer to use.

[Before]

[After]

 

Take away –  Make sure you have an elevator company that lets you know when your sump pump isn’t working or you have water in the elevator pit and work towards keeping water out of the elevator pit.  The elevator company cannot resolve your water issues but we are the only ones that are permitted to enter the elevator pit so we have to be the ones to let you know!  Identifying water issues early can prevent small issues from becoming large expensive ones.

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  Each month you will get some great info on Colley!  It is short and quick to run through, you’ll like it!

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107 or on our web page at www.colleyelevator.com

 

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

Traction elevator modernization – Chicago, IL – Motion Control Engineering

 

This project was for a long time great customer of ours who gave us an opportunity to bid a building we did not currently do maintenance on.  The elevator had reliability issues and an FEO mandate component to it.

Existing elevator & project scope – The existing 14 story traction elevator was installed sometime in the 1930’s or 1940’s and has had many modernizations completed on it, the most recent modernization was the installation of the Virginia Controller in 1986

New equipment providers

Controllers – Motion Control Engineering

Machine – Hollister Whitney – New motor[Imperial Electric]

Door equipment - GAL

Fixtures – Innovation Industries

Traction elevator controller – The existing controller was a relay logic Virginia Controls relay logic with about 196 relays which each have 9 contact points for a grand total of 1,764 potential failure points just on the plug in relays not to mention the capacitors, resisitors and other electrical components within the elevator system.  The best part of the modernization was getting rid of the motor generator.  We went with the bullet proof MCE 4000 to replace it for its proven track record in reliability for midrise elevators.  

[Existing Virginia Controls elevator controller]

[Existing Virginia Controls elevator controller]

[New Motion Control Engineering [MCE] elevator controller]

Elevator machine– The machine was probably replaced in 1986 when the elevator control system was modernized and was in decent condition.  We added a new rope break, drained and cleaned the machine and addressed any leaky seals.

[Existing Hollister Whitney Machine]

[Retained machine - new motor, rope brake & paint job]

Elevator fixtures – Older historic buildings are always a challenge cosmetically to modernize because you want to keep the impact on the lobby to a minimum and still have it look good.   This lobby appears to have marble so we did our best to resuse the existing fixture boxes when size it up for the modernization while achieving ADA compliance.

[Existing elevator car station]

[New Innovation Industries car station with position indicator]

[Existing elevator 1st floor lobby with multi light P/I]

[New Innovation Industries 1st floor lobby with digital P/I]

Door equipment – The building had older GAL on it with smaller tracks which we had extensive reworking on to get the door interlocks to be in a more desirable and maintainable set up.  We replaced the door operator with another MOVFR II and refreshed all of the car and hall door equipment.

[Engineering visit - WOW]

[Finished product]

Car top & Misc – The car top was an absolute disaster upon our first visit with a lot of abandoned devices left from the last few modernizations.  With a little time and reworking we made this smaller car top look a lot better.

Take away – This was a total team effort on Colley’s part, we had 17 people from the company who worked on the project from the first phone call to the final inspection.  This project was ½ way complete when covid hit our area and was a challenge to complete during the “stay at home order”.  Everyone in that building stayed home, we had to still continue to go to work in the building that everyone was staying home in.  Something to think about. Our elevator teams persevered and landed the bird and turned over a great running elevator to service the 14 story.

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  Each month you will get some great info on Colley!  It is short and quick to run through, you’ll like it!

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107 or on our web page at www.colleyelevator.com

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

Crazy dangerous freight elevator pit - Repost - Stairway to heaven

This is a repost from 2016, it is probably the most unique elevator environment I have ever seen.  If you want to see the original post it was from 5/15/2016

[Elevator pit looks wonderful, well lit - the hatch also has no doors]

[This way to the hot water heaters and building mechanicals]

[Old machine room - Machine room looks great]

[Elevator power is still on]

[This is what can come down on your head]

Since my visit to this building in 2016 I haven't seen anything quite like it.  As anyone in the industry can attest to, we see a lot of interesting things you would never think would or could be.  The wildest part of the building is that the owner blocked up the other access to the building mechanicals[which was from the outside], the only way to service any of the building mechanicals was through the elevator pit.  I was told, at one time, building security was an issue.

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  Each month you will get some great info on Colley!  It is short and quick to run through, you’ll like it!

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107 or on our web page at www.colleyelevator.com

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

Elevator maintenance intervals and OEM monitoring options

As technology advances, we see more and more options to replace human beings with computer systems. In our industry we see more and more opportunities to replace the most expensive part of our maintenance expense, the people.  Before we replace all of the people hours in the realm of elevator maintenance there are somethings we should pay attention to.

Yesterday

People/labor -  Years ago it was standard that each hydraulic elevator got one hour per month for elevator maintenance and traction elevators got at least 2 hours a month for maintenance.  You knew your elevator person and the building developed a relationship with the person.  The elevator mechanic knew the quarks in your elevator system.

Equipment - These elevators were relay logic and required maintenance to be completed on the relays. Our traction elevators had motor generators that needed to be maintained and monitored. Maintenance on relay logic controllers and generators is an art. Our elevators did not have all of the life|safety devices[phones, emergency lights, fireman’s recall, etc] as they do now.  Our elevator pits did not have as many sump pumps, fire recall detectors and other non-elevator related devices in the hoistway.

[Older elevator controllers have more items that should be reviewed on a regular basis]]

[This old gem has two motor generators that should be looked at, at least once a month]

Today

People/labor - Today original equipment manufacturers such as Otis, Schindler, Thyssen Krupp, Kone are not going to buildings as frequently as yesterday and are driving more maintenance agreements to go to a quarterly basis versus monthly basis.  More and more companies are going to team maintenance which give 2 mechanics 400-500 elevators to have in their portfolio to maintain, service, respond to service calls, complete testing and any other request.  We call the new normal a Super Route.  With the assumption that we have 20 working days in a month and work 8 hours a day we have 160 work hours to complete all of our tasks as an elevator mechanic.  More often than not, the numbers do not add up.

Equipment - Most of the older elevator systems that have relay logic systems have been replaced with solid state systems. Our new elevators all have phones, phone line monitoring, emergency lights, firemen recall phase I & II and we have more non elevator devices in our hoist way such as sump pumps and fire recall detectors.

Tomorrow

People/labor – If there is a linear relationship between yesterday and today and you reflect that relationship to today and tomorrow, we as an industry will not be visiting your buildings very often. We as an elevator industry are implementing and deploying elevator monitoring systems.  What these elevator monitoring systems are doing are monitoring electricity and noises to identify issues or potential issues.

Equipment – Our elevator equipment will become more sophisticated and have more life safety devices. Each time there is an elevator death we as an industry react to prevent that accident from occurring again.  This means one more device or feature added to your elevator system that needs to be tested/checked.  Perhaps brand new elevators can be monitored remotely for a certain period of time and not visited, cleaned or looked at.  Is your elevator brand new?

[The device circle is an elevator monitor - this elevator is not brand new 15-20 years old]

Advancement in elevator monitoring – The advancing elevator technology to do predictive modeling and monitoring your elevator system is pretty impressive.  We can capture faults on elevators, we can tell if the elevator is shut down, we can monitor electricity and noise and develop predictive modeling algorithms which design standard deviation curves from normal usage and flag items when they fall outside the 1st or 2^nd deviation.  Sounds great, easy, sign the deal, right?  Well keep reading.

Monthly elevator code required testing – Our elevator code requires a few items that do need to be checked each month.  If an elevator mechanic doesn’t go to a building each month, who will complete these tasks?

Fireman’s service exercising – Every month the elevator phase I key switch must be turned, the elevator captured at the main landing, the phase II key switch turned to the on position and the elevator taken to one landing, cycle the doors to make sure all functions of FEO are working correctly and then returned to the main landing. 

Phone – The elevator phone should be checked each month.  Newer elevators have elevator phone line monitoring, this is a device at your main landing that will check your phone and phone line at intervals.  If your elevator system was not installed under the 2013 code or newer it will not have this feature and someone should push the button each month to see if it is operating correctly. 

Softside or non-quantifiable reasons to rethink the interval trends – As we progress as an industry we are removing labor hours away from elevator maintenance.  Instead of monthly we go quarterly.  Instead of someone actually walking into your building we have a computer monitor your elevator system.

          Housekeeping - Here is some quick math to review. 

Monthly visits – 1 hour per month = 12 hours per year

Quarterly visits – 1 hour per quarter = 4 hours per year 

Moving from a monthly visit to a quarterly or “as needed systematic” visit is a 75% reduction in time you have an actual person in your building maintaining the equipment.  What gets lost? Time for Housekeeping, attention to detail, familiarity with the specific elevator requirements. The list goes on.

Below are some pictures of elevators we have recently taken over from companies that have “Super Routes” that visit buildings on a “regular systematic as needed basis”.

[This is a building that had an OEM with a route mechanic that was overloaded, there had been no housekeeping for years]

[A super route's elevator pit]

[This hasn't been wiped off in a while - building was paying the elevator company monthly]

[OEM had this elevator for 15+ years since installation]

[First month with Colley]

[Elevator pit when we took over]

[Elevator pit after first month of Colley maintenance]

Softside – When you go into buildings on a regular basis and actually look in the elevator pit and car top you will find things out that can save the building money and headaches.  The picture below is from a school, if the water came up any more it would have evacuated the entire school because the elevator pit was flooding.  We got to the building on our maintenance visit just in time to identify the sump pump wasn’t working.

[We caught this in the nick of time - if we did not get here, the alarm would have went off and the school would have been evacuated.]

Take away – Each building has different requirements for maintenance based on usage, age, traffic patterns, environment and several other factors.  A 6 story condominium with 60 units requires different maintenance than a 3 story building with 12 units.  There is no one program that fits all buildings.  An elevator mechanic is only as good as the tools he is given from the company he works for, if the company doesn’t give the mechanic the time, material and equipment to properly maintain an elevator it will be impossible to maintain an elevator system properly. Big names, flashy products and sales person promises do not necessarily translate into better maintenance and a longer elevator system life.  If we don't come in your buildings because we have "systematic or regular" visits or our routes are too large, we cannot care for your equipment.  Something to think about before signing your next elevator contract.  Easy solution is to ask and make sure your concerns are included in the next contract, do not take the sales person's word.

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  Each month you will get some great info on Colley!  It is short and quick to run through, you’ll like it!

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107 or on our web page at www.colleyelevator.com

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.

Health and Welfare – Covid 19 – Please Remember 3 Things

 

I tirelessly beat on the drum that in our lives right now 3 things should take priority.

     1.    Social distancing

2.    Washing our hands/sanitizing our hands

3.    Wearing masks

In Illinois we have been #1 in positive cases for about 2 weeks, the numbers are sky rocketing. From coast to coast, from hemisphere to hemisphere we are all tired.  Please listen, please respect science, please do not look in the mirror and tell yourself what you are doing will not affect someone else.

Our actions or inactions can save lives, businesses, jobs, mental health, education, the list goes on.

Please be careful out there.

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107 or on our web page at www.colleyelevator.com

Colley Elevator Lunch Stimulus Program – Support Your Local Restaurants

 

Earlier in the year we had an initiative at Colley to buy lunch for our shop and office staff when the State of Illinois shuttered our restaurant dining rooms.  The State of Illinois once again has closed our dining rooms as our Illinois infection numbers sky rocket.  We again will be supporting our local restaurants.  If you work at a company, suggest this to your manager. Or if you are a manager, answer the call to help support our independent local businesses that are being hammered once again during the shutdown.  

At our office we take turns picking a local spot to get food, the company pays for it, we all eat well and feel good about supporting our local service industry brothers and sisters.  The fun part is finding new local places. Here is a list of the spots we have supported since 10/26/20[beginning of the 2^nd

shutdown].

10/26/2020                Joey C's - Bensenville, IL[brought to us by Smartrise Engineering - Thanks Smartrise!]

10/27/2020                El Famous Burrito - Elmhurst, IL

10/28/2020                Kebab House - Bensenville, IL

10/29/2020                Mama Marias Pizza - Bensenville, IL

10/30/2020                Fry the Coop - Elmhurst, IL

11/2/2020                  Fred's Place - Elmhurst, IL

11/4/2020                  Rosalias Deli - Elmhurst, IL

11/5/2020                  Gauc N Tac - Elmhurst, IL

11/6/2020                  Fry the Coop - Elmhurst, IL

11/9/2020                  Mi Quetzal - Bensenville, IL

11/10/2020                Stray Hen - Elmhurst, IL

11/12/20                    El Famous Burrito - Elmhurst, IL

11/13/20                    Christopher's Place - Elmhurst, IL

11/16/20                    Ozzies Subs - North Lake, IL

11/17/20                    Kebab House - Bensenville, IL

11/18/20                    Yorkies - Elmhurst, IL

11/19/20                    Joey C's - Bensenville, IL

11/20/20                    Portillos - Northlake, IL

11/23/20                    Nanas - Elmhurst, IL

11/24/20                    Christophers - Elmhurst, IL

11/25/20                   Clubhouse - Oak Brook, IL

11/30/20                    Larianos - Elmhurst, IL

12/1/20                       Zenwich - Elmhurst, IL

12/2/20                       Currito - Elmhurst, IL

12/3/20                        Rainbow Cafe - Elmhurst, IL

12/4/20                        Larianos - Elmhurst, IL

12/7/20                        Fitzs - Elmhurst, IL

12/8/20                        Christophers - Elmhurst, IL

12/9/20                        Sweet Baby Ray's - Wood Dale, IL

12/10/20                      Rosati's - Elmhurst, IL

12/11/20                      Mi Quetzal - Bensenville, IL

12/14/20                      Joey C's - Bensenville, IL

12/15/20                       Kebab House - Bensenville, IL

12/16/20                       Rainbow Cafe - Elmhurst, IL

12/17/20                        El Famous Burrito - Elmhurst, IL

12/18/20                        Hamburger Heaven - Elmhurst, IL 

12/21/20                        Yorkies - Elmhurst, IL

12/22/20                        Mama Marias Pizza - Bensenville, IL

12/23/20                        Nanas - Elmhurst, IL

12/24/20                        Portillos - Elmhurst, IL

12/28/20                        Ozzies Sub - Melrose Park, IL

12/29/20                        Kebab House - Bensenville, IL

12/30/20                        Gauc N' Tac - Elmhurst, IL

12/31/20                        Fly The Coup - Elmhurst, IL

We will continue to support our local restaurants until their dining rooms are allowed to open once again.  You should too!  We are fortunate enough to work in a wonderful industry that hasn’t been hit that hard with any of the State’s actions to curb the spread of Covid 19. If you or your company can afford it, answer the call and order for you and your staff or coworkers.

For our favorite traveling sales people who cannot travel and take us out to lunch, bring donuts, etc., we will gladly allocate your expense fund to support our local guys!  Smartrise Engineering bought our lunch on 10/26/20!  Thank you Smartrise!

Hey! Sign up for our mailing list!  Each month you will get some great info on Colley!  It is short and quick to run through, you’ll like it!

If you have any questions or would like additional information feel free to contact me at CraigZ@colleyelevator.com or 630-766-7230 ext. 107 or on our web page at www.colleyelevator.com

Also check us out on Instagram @Colleyelevator see what we have been up to.